Official Freewing 90mm F-104 Starfighter Thread

[urrl]

Second morning flight with F-104

[petefoss]

Nose cone? A facebook friend of mine suggested adding more magnets to keep the nose cone secure? Anybody have issues with the nose cone coming lose on landing?

[themudduck]

Nose cone? A facebook friend of mine suggested adding more magnets to keep the nose cone secure? Anybody have issues with the nose cone coming lose on landing?

I think that this issue was with the 70mm F104 (I added two extra magnets to mine). Perhaps your friend is old and confused??

[crxmanpat]

Bought the yellow version off a friend of mine back in February, and finally got the maiden flight done today. Just like its little brother, you have to keep up with this one. But, it doesn't get as small as fast, which really helps.

[urrl]

Morning flights.

[gooniac33]

well I left my wing tanks at home yesterday... flew the plane without them too! it seemed scary at first but it all went just fine! Its faster and ailerons are much more sensitive. All in all it flew fine! But I have the tanks with me today....

[Beeg]

well I left my wing tanks at home yesterday... flew the plane without them too! it seemed scary at first but it all went just fine! Its faster and ailerons are much more sensitive. All in all it flew fine! But I have the tanks with me today....

LOL! Yeah, I was the same way when I did my sidewinder mod. Have to admit it fly's better (more stable) with the tanks though.

[gooniac33]

LOL! Yeah, I was the same way when I did my sidewinder mod. Have to admit it fly's better (more stable) with the tanks though.

It is for sure better with them... I am not going to fly without unless I forget them again.,... LOL

[Pete Lane]

Counterbalance ?

Plane

[petefoss]

I bent the nose gear on my 90 mm F-104. Is this the right part number for the nose gear pin? https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...escription-tab

[OV10]

You DO NOT want those.

You want the 4.1mm pin that is used on this.

Electronic Retract with 4.1mm Shaft Type B

Specifications:

• Body material: plastic
• Trunion material: metal
• Strut diameter: rotating shaft pin is 4.1mm in diameter

This retract is used on the nose gear of the following Freewing aircraft:

• 90mm F-104
• 90mm Stinger 90
• Eurofighter Version 2
• F-15
• Mig-21
• Su-35
• Super Scorpion
• T-45
• Venom
• Yak-130
• F-18 Version 2

The retract is used on all the above but not all of the above list the pin for it.
I have taken the liberty to search 3 of them for you.........they are all the same with just a slight variance in the sku number

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...connecting-pin

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...connecting-pin

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...connecting-pin

Best regards,

[petefoss]

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17 GOLD STARS!

[DCORSAIR]

Kind of quiet over here in the 104 forum, anyone still flying one? I was thinking about getting another one, sold mine after 15 flights to get another F-15, kind of miss flying it.

[gooniac33]

I haven't had mine out in a couple weeks. But I plan on flying it this coming weekend! I have flown the mig a couple weekends in a row which means the F-104 needs a turn now. I will grab My F-15,A-10 and F-104 for this weekends flying.... Should be good too! Hope to have my new camera man get a good video of it in flight as well.

[gooniac33]

Well my stock unit has gotten buzzier over the last couple weekends. I think that I hit something in the runway and threw its balance off. So I got an FMS 90mm set up with 1900kv outrunner that needed a home. I got busy with it the other night and the fan is in place now. I did thrust and amp readings before I removed the stock set up. Not actual numbers for thrust but point plane nose up and punch the throttle and see what it does. Stock Amp draw was about 102amps peak settling at about 97-99amps. Held the plane by its nose, pointed it up and throttled up. It was not 1:1 and would start to slip down if I let go. Also half throttle amp draw was about 38amps and there was a decent push from the fan. It was gear down and on the table for that....

After some dremel work to get the fan to fit in the plane flat it was time to run it up and check it out. Half throttle yielded 39amps and the thrust felt stronger than the stock half throttle setting just going off of the push of it being on the table with gear down. Held it by its nose and throttled up. The plane was trying to push out of my hand and go up if I let go. Definitely better than stock. Amp draw was 107 peak and actually held at 105amps for quite a while before falling off a bit. I think that this is going to be good....

Also I checked CG before I took out the stock fan as well. With the new one installed the CG actually moved forward just a hair but still within the range. It is actually a lil more favorable as it is now since my original CG was at the rear of the range. Looking forward to flying it and seeing if there is a difference!! Lighter is for sure better as is having more thrust....

[seaviper]

I'm about to build and fly mine soon now that I have the T-45 tuned. It's a stock PNP bird. The plan is to get her all flight tested and tuned up. Then I will paint her in the SEA camo for a Vietnam era scheme.

Gooniac if you have any photos of the installation of that FMS unit I would love to see them. That sounds like a good mod. However, I do have an 80mm FMS unit here for the BAE Hawk. And the FMS 80mm fan unit is rather "bendy". Just gentle finger pressure holding the shroud and the blades will scrape. I like the sturdiness of the metal housings better I think.

[gooniac33]

I'm about to build and fly mine soon now that I have the T-45 tuned. It's a stock PNP bird. The plan is to get her all flight tested and tuned up. Then I will paint her in the SEA camo for a Vietnam era scheme.

Gooniac if you have any photos of the installation of that FMS unit I would love to see them. That sounds like a good mod. However, I do have an 80mm FMS unit here for the BAE Hawk. And the FMS 80mm fan unit is rather "bendy". Just gentle finger pressure holding the shroud and the blades will scrape. I like the sturdiness of the metal housings better I think.

I don't have a video or pix. But the 90mm is pretty strong with the ring installed. I did have to use the screws to pull the fan in about 2-3 mm and it did not distort the fan at all. zero rubbing and it has performed flawless ever since the installation. It did require some dremel too work though. mainly on the plastic piece inside of the plane directly under the tail. It is required to get the fan to fit in there flush like the stock unit. The rear of the fms fan is about 5mm longer than the stock unit. The holes also need to be re drilled in the plastic mounting tabs. It took about an hour to complete but I am very happy with how it performs now...

Here is a video from this weekend...

[seaviper]

Good flying man, especially so with all those slow movers in the air. Makes me appreciate our field more. Usually I'm the only one in the air unless I have a wingman.

[seaviper]

Two Questions

1. If I am ordering graphics for the 90mm F-104, what scale would you guys order? I calculate the wingspan at 1:9, and the fuselage at 1:11.

2. Where can I get those lens covers that go on the sides of the fuselage? Mine came all covered in glue and paint. I think I can clean them, but the tabs on the back are broken and I would like to find new ones.

3. Not a question. Just an observation. My F-104 came with the most absolutely horrible application of cheap stickers I have ever seen. And this is a $400 bird!! I immediately removed the stickers and will begin the repaint. Also, the pilot has excess glue showing in the cockpit and his helmet is all marked up with some kind of glue or paint. Not to mention the little dings all over the bird and the crooked stars and bars. I was going to fly her as is for a while. But now I'm just going for the total rebuild/repaint.

I love these super scale birds. If only they would just sell them as kits for us builders/painters...I'm tired of fixing stripped screw holes and mis applied graphics. Some things are over-glued. Others have just barely any glue. Just sell them as kits for a lower price. I will build my own.

[OV10]

Two Questions

1. If I am ordering graphics for the 90mm F-104, what scale would you guys order? I calculate the wingspan at 1:9, and the fuselage at 1:11..

According to Wikipedia
Length is 54'8" and according to FW spec of 67.7" the length scale is 1/9.7
W/S is 21'9" and FW spec of 29.7" the w/s scale is 1/8.8
I'd split the diff and go with 1/9 ;)